Can You Hear Me?
by TaoHua
Summary: Makoto needs to tell Haru what's on his mind. MakoHaru


_Haru, I hope you can hear me._

Makoto looked down to where Haru was resting and took a deep breath. The world seemed to freeze around them both. Only the sound of the trickling stream behind where Makoto stood filled his ears.

"We met when we were six, on the first day of first grade. I was so nervous, Haru, I was so scared to let go of my mother's hand. But then I saw you, walking into the classroom all by yourself, and suddenly I wasn't afraid anymore. I walked in to the classroom with new confidence, sat down next to you, and asked you what you had brought in your bento that day.

"And of course, you turned to me and said with the straightest face possible that your lunch consisted of mackerel and rice. Only. And I laughed and laughed, because to my first grade self that was the funniest thing in the world. I thought to myself, who in the world brings only mackerel and rice to lunch? That's a very unbalanced meal!

"But then you smiled at me, and do you know what, Haru? That one smile changed everything."

Just thinking about the days of the past made Makoto feel light as a feather, free as a bird. All the troubles weighing him down took flight. He had been right to come here.

"So we started to talk more and more, or at least I did. You were always the listener. Soon, we joined the swim club together. Years passed. We were best of friends and nobody could change that. You and I, we were inseparable.

"And then we won the relay, and everything changed. Rin moved to Australia, and I felt as if he had took a piece of you with him. This really, really, important piece of you was missing and you were a different person, but I didn't care. You didn't talk to me the same way anymore, but I didn't care. Because just being _next _to you each day satisfied me. You still listened to whatever I had on my mind. Then, as high school second-years, the clouds lifted after we swum that relay at Regionals with Rin. The old Haru that I'd befriended so many years ago was back for good.

"We graduated, you came to Tokyo with me and everything was perfect. The next year, after their own graduation, Rei and Nagisa started visiting us more and more. It was like a fairytale, you were swimming in the big leagues, I was studying harder than ever to reach my dream, and we made so many new friends.

"It was all a perfect, flawless, fairytale except for one little thing; I was head-over-heels in love with you, and for some reason, I couldn't say it, I couldn't tell you. I had loved you ever since that fateful day in first grade when you had unknowingly whisked away my fear and took me under your wing. I had fallen so hard over you, but whatever I did to get your attention, you never seemed to see it.

"But I didn't care because your company was enough for me and I didn't want our friendship to be ruined. Even though every night, I'd go home and lie in bed, unable to go to sleep because I was thinking about _you, _and everything we'd gone through.

"Like that time when you came over to play video games and we accidently fell asleep in each others arms."

Makoto laughed, remembering the look on his mother's face when she'd discovered them the next morning. He had woken up before Haru had, but had easily gone back to sleep, his friend's strong arms wrapped around his chest.

"Do you remember the time when we went to that fancy pool in Tokyo but I had forgotten my swimsuit? You hadn't, of course, you had been wearing it the entire trip, but you pulled me by the arm into the water, with all my clothes still on. Then you swum away like what you did was nothing. But nobody could miss that look on your face, that smile, that blush.

"What about the time after we had moved back to Iwatobi together and laid on the sand at night, shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg, the stars shining up above? I pointed out to you all the constellations I knew, and you asked me where the dolphin was. Do you remember that?"

Tears danced in Makoto's eyes and the words weren't coming out right anymore, but he needed Haru to hear every last word.

"The time," Mako breathed, "when we went camping but we had only brought one sleeping bag by accident? And I was freaking out, worried that one of us would have to sleep in the cold? But then you just crawled in next to me and put your head on my chest before drifting off to sleep?

"I remember all these moments like they were yesterday. And even though a bunch of horrible, terrible things have happened in between those good times, I would never want to go back in time and change any of that. Because one of the best moments with you is buried deep within our time together, when you told me how much I meant to you. And even though you hadn't said the exact words, I knew then that you loved me. Maybe not in the same way that I loved you, but it didn't make a difference in my mind.

"Do you remember how I replied? I said that anything without you was meaningless, and that I couldn't live without you. It just wasn't possible. But I guess I'm going to have to learn, won't I? Moping in a dark corner, surrounded by sadness day in and day out, that's not what you would want for me, right, Haru? You'd want me to keep on swimming and move on.

"I'll never forget you, Haru-chan. I just wish I could of told you how much I loved you, how much I still love you, when you were still here with me."

And with those last words, Makoto bent down next to the freshly dug grave and placed a gentle kiss on the top of the headstone. A tear dropped off his chin, then another and another until Makoto couldn't bear it any longer.

"Goodbye, Haru-chan."

Then each and every one of Makoto's words echoed against the stones in the creek, the ripples in the pool, and the waves in the ocean, where Haru could hear the voice of his best friend, his teammate, his love, loud and clear.

_Here Lies Haruka Nanase_

_An inspiration to all those of the water_

_Eternally Free_


End file.
